This invention relates to an easy-change mattress safety sheet system for a crib, toddler bed, bunk bed, or similar type bed that has side panels or rails that are not easily removable. The presence of the side panels or rails limit the ability to secure a standard sheet onto the mattress without completely removing it from the crib, toddler bed, bunk bed, or other type of bed.
The process of placing a standard sheet on a crib mattress, toddler bed, bunk bed, or other bed with side rails is difficult since the corners of the sheet have to be tucked under the four corners of the mattress. Access to the corners of the mattress are restricted by the slats and rails that are inherent to most baby cribs, toddler beds, and bunk beds. Access is further restricted by the presence of bumpers used in most standard cribs. New mattress designs use squared corners to limit a child""s ability to access the area between the mattress sides and the insides of the crib slats or walls. This further impedes the ease and speed at which a crib sheet, toddler bed sheet, or bunk bed sheet can be changed.
The typical method by which a crib sheet, toddler bed sheet, or bunk bed sheet is changed is to remove the bumpers, lift or entirely remove the mattress from the bed or crib, and remove the standard or bunk bed crib sheet by pulling the sheet from beneath the four corners of the mattress. The process is then reversed to remake the bed. The four corners of the standard crib, toddler bed, or bunk bed sheet are secured to the mattress. The mattress is placed back into the crib, toddler bed, or bunk bed and the bumpers or rails are secured around the perimeter of the bed.
This easy-change mattress safety sheet system design is concerned with both ease of change and the safety of the child. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission""s records (CPSC Document #5127), several infants have died from strangulation or suffocation from crib sheets that have come off the bed. Incidents not involving death have also been reported where the sheet has come off the mattress and the child has been found wrapped in it.
The design of this easy-change mattress safety sheet has two primary purposes. The first is to improve upon the safety of the standard crib, toddler bed, or bunk bed sheet. The second is to reduce the labor involved in changing a standard crib, toddler bed, or bunk bed sheet when it is positioned in a bed or crib.
The prior art related to crib sheet design has focused on simplifying the process of changing sheets without the need to remove the mattress or bumpers from the crib but has not emphasized safety. This invention addresses the safety problems by employing a simple attaching means which fully encompasses the removable sheet and a base that fully surrounds the mattress which cannot be dislodged by the child. It simplifies the design of a removable top sheet by the use of a simple attaching means. In preferred embodiments, the simple attaching means is a zipper.
Prior art which discloses the use of a zipper or hook and loop fasteners for securing a top sheet generally rely on the use of a fitted mattress pad to secure the sheet. These types of fitted pads are often ill-fitting and not secure enough to hold the sheet in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,565 to Blake, discloses the use of a composite sheet secured by hook and loop fasteners to a fitted mattress pad. An elastic band extending underneath the mattress is used to tension the mattress pad in place. The installation of the elastic band is not described and could prove difficult without stretching the band excessively so that it would ultimately lose its elasticity. The band also only secures the middle of the pad in place and in the case of a loose fit, the end of the pad and thus the sheet could slip off the mattress. In addition, the hook and loop fasteners secure the sides of the top sheet only, allowing the entrapment of a child along the top and bottom of the sheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,875 to Zipf describes a disposable mattress cover which fully encircles the mattress; however, the mattress must be slid into the tubular design. In the modified construction that is described, the corners of the mattress must be lifted and inserted into slots which is a cumbersome process due to the tight fit of crib mattresses against the crib slats or walls and the presence of bumpers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,099 to Brenner, U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,530 to Blake and U.S. Pat. No. 3,570,026 to Allison all employ an unsecured fitted mattress pad to hold a sheet or protective pad in place, and they all use a zipper or hook and loop fasteners to secure only a portion of the sheet/protective pad into place. These arrangements do not ensure that the removable sheet or the fitted mattress pad will not become dislodged and allow the entanglement of a child.
As discussed above, there is a need in the art for a crib, toddler bed, or bunk bed sheet which is both easy to change and which provides a safe environment for the baby or child. This invention satisfies that need by providing an easy-change mattress safety system.
This invention provides a system by which a sheet for a crib, toddler bed, bunk bed, or other bed surrounded by rails or bumpers can be secured in place. By design, it eliminates the possibility of a child removing the corners and wrapping themselves in the fabric. The top sheet is removable from the base by use of simple attaching means that attaches the removable top sheet to the base. This system provides ease of change of the sheets by using the attaching means to remove the top sheet from the base. This system also provides a safe environment for a child in either a crib, toddler bed, or bunk bed, because the attaching means is located where the child can not access it. The attaching means is located inside the perimeter of the top plane of the mattress. The simple attaching means can be covered by a fabric flap, and when the attaching means is a zipper, the zipper can be designed so that the zipper pull can be completely hidden and inaccessible. With these specific design parameters, an adult can access the attaching means to make changing of the crib sheet easy, but a child can not access the attaching means, thereby resulting in a safe environment for the child. Elastic can also be used in the design to allow for adjustability of fit for different sized mattresses.
In one embodiment, the easy-change mattress safety sheet system of the present invention comprises a bottom base sheet and a removable top sheet which are attached by simple attaching means, wherein the base sheet covers the bottom and the four sides of the mattress and the top sheet covers the top surface of the mattress. The simple attaching means is used to securely and detachably attach the top sheet to the base sheet. The simple attaching means can be any type of attaching means, and in preferred embodiments is selected from the group consisting of a zipper, velcro, or a plurality of snaps. When the attaching means is a zipper, the slide of the zipper can be located on the base sheet. Additionally, the zipper can be attached so that the pull of the zipper can be hidden beneath the base of the zipper when fully closed.
The top and base sheet of the easy-change mattress safety sheet system can be made of any fabric suitable for use as a sheet. In preferred embodiments, the sheets are made of cotton fabric. When the sheets are made of cotton, either the top sheet, the base sheet, or both sheets have been pre-shrunk prior to attaching thereon the simple attaching means. In still other embodiments, elastic can be used in the vertical seams and the bottom of the sheet base to allow for adjustability of fit.
In some embodiments, the attaching means can be identical in length to the perimeter of the mattress. Additionally, the attaching means, after securely attaching the top sheet and the base sheet, is located on the mattress perimeter and is hidden under the bumper. In other embodiments of the present invention, the attaching means can be covered by a flap. It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an easy-change mattress safety system that provides both ease of changing a sheet without removing either the bumpers or the mattress and a safe environment for a child in the bed. This object is achieved by the specific design of the system which comprises an attaching means to attach a removable top sheet to a base sheet, wherein the attaching means can be easily access by adults, while at the same time the attaching means is inaccessible to the child in the crib or bunk bed.
In the easy-change mattress safety sheet system of the present invention, the mattress cane be used in a bed of any type, and is more preferably used in a bed which has some type of side railings, including bed types such as a crib, a toddler bed, or a bunk bed.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following drawings, detailed description and claims.